NSW: Bra boy returns to Sydney after US jail stint

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-2008
NSW: Bra boy returns to Sydney after US jail stint

SYDNEY, Dec 10 AAP - Professional surfer and Bra Boy gang leader Koby Abberton has
returned to Australia after two separate stints behind bars in the US.

Abberton landed at Sydney airport on a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, just after 4pm
(AEDT) on Wednesday.

He was returned to Australia by US authorities after being arrested at Honolulu International
Airport last Thursday on a visa violation relating to his recent assault conviction in
the island state.

The 30-year-old was greeted by other Bra Boy members as he walked into the arrivals
hall, hugging and back slapping them before leaving the terminal and heading for the taxi
rank.

He refused to comment on his jail time and subsequent removal from Hawaii.

On November 20, the Maroubra resident was sentenced to three days jail for assaulting
off-duty police officer Richard Puu outside a Honolulu nightclub in March.

Abberton entered a no contest plea to the third degree assault charge and was released
from custody after two days, but when he appeared at Honolulu airport on Thursday US immigration
officers took him into custody.

They said the assault charge conviction contravened the visa waiver program Abberton
and most Australian travellers to the US agree to abide by.

The professional surfer's lawyers had complained to the media that he was being held
in solitary confinement at Honolulu's Federal Detention Centre and suffered a dislocated
elbow in an altercation during his arrest and was not fed for 24 hours.

However, US authorities said he was held in a cell by himself for his own safety and
for the safety of others, as he had a history of violence.

The authorities also said the elbow injury was a month old, and happened innocently
during the ride from the airport to the jail.

Abberton and his brothers received worldwide notoriety this year with the global release
of their documentary Bra Boys which featured Oscar winner Russell Crowe as narrator.

The film focused on their violent upbringing on Sydney's Maroubra Beach, and their gang.

AAP kd/bd/hn/nf

KEYWORD: ABBERTON (PIX AVAILABLE)

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